Packages for articles



Dec. 30, 1958 A. SVIRCHEV 2,866,542 PACKAGES FOR ARTICLES Filed Jul 24, 1953 1i 2 a a INVENTOR. 1, 36 ALEXANDER SV/RCl/El/ IWTOENEY United States Patent PACKAGES FOR ARTICLES Application July 24, 1953, Serial No. 370,095

1 Claim. (Cl. 206-632) This invention relates generally to packagingarticles.

One of the general objects of the invention is an improved manner of sealing an article within a package forming wrapper to facilitate opening the package for access to the article packaged therewithin.

A further general object of the invention is a manner of packaging a metallic article such as a surgeons blade and the like, within an encasement or wrapper made of foil material such as aluminum or the like whereby deterioration of the foil material is minimized.

Objects of the invention are attained by applying an adhesive coating to the inner face of the encasement material in the direction of separation of its layers.

Objects of the invention are further attained by wiping the adhesive coating applied to the inner face of the packaging material with a soft fabric, as by a bufiing operation, before forming the package.

In the preferred embodiment wherein the encasement for the surgeons blade or the like is made of a material such as aluminum foil, which is given a grain in its formation, still other objects of the invention are attained by so applying the coating so that its grain parallels that of the wrapper.

The package shown in the drawings and the packaging procedure for its production described in the specification exemplify one manner of practicing the invention and its details are not to be considered as limitative except where expressly recited in the claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the finished package;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line IIIlII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view partly broken away, of the initial assembly of the blade and its wrapper; and

Fig. 5 shows the final step of sealing the package.

The invention has been illustrated in the drawings and is disclosed in the specification as for packaging metallic articles such as surgeons blades which are generally made of steel and are generally characterized by a cutting edge 4, a rear edge 6 which is unsharpened and a slot 8 for attachment to a handle (not shown).

The invention contemplates that a sterile blade sealed in a wrapper air-tightly, be maintained sterile without deterioration or degradation of either the blade or its encasement; that opening the package be facilitated; and that the attachment of the blade to a handle be effected without requiring manual handling of the blade.

The wrapper for the blade is shown in the drawings as formed from a single strip of material of sufficient length so that the top and bottom blade encasing walls line 18. It will be observed that by locating the fold line 18 off center as shown, wall or fold 10 is longer than wall 12 to provide the extension flap 16 which facilitates separation of the walls to open the package.

The two wrapper walls 10 and 12 are secured together to complete the package by a coating of an adhesive substance, such as vinyl, which will adhere to the wrap- ICC ping, material and also to a similar coating but which will not adhere to an article made of steel. Where the wrapper is formed from a single strip of material by a folding-operation as'shownin Fig. 4, it is preferable that the coatingbe applied to the wrapper before the surgeons blade is positioned thereon. Where the wrapper is formed by assembly of' separately formed walls as is within the purview of the invention, then each of the walls may be separately coated.

The sur'geons blade is sealed air-tightly within the package by the relatively narrow and continuous sealing zone which may be formed by the pressure of a heated die having a body and die members 62 in the manner shown in Fig. 5' of the drawings. This relatively narrow sealing zone is conformed to the shape of the package and is shown in thedrawings as comprised of the two parallel coterminous sides 20 joined by section 21 at one endjand by the two angular sections 22 at the other end which meet at apex 24.

It'will be observed of. this sealing zone that its sides 20 are spaced from the edges 36 and 38 of the walls 10 and 12 and from eachvother to receive the surgeons blade therewithin and that the apex 24 is at the end of the package having the flap 16. i

It will further be observed that the apex of the sealing zone 24 is spaced from the end edges 26 and 28 of the two layers so as to provide the tabs 30 and 32 which can be grasped by the user to initiate the separation of the two walls 10 and 12, as shown in Fig. 1. Points of increased resistance, such as stops or extensions 34, may be formed on the side sections 20 of the sealing zone in perpendicular relation thereto by the die members 64 of the die in Fig. 5. These stops 34 serve to stop the separation of the two walls 10 and 12 and prevent the user from losing control of the blade 2.

In accordance with this invention, the coating of adhesive substance 50 is applied on the walls 10 and 12 in a direction parallel to the line of separation of the layers, i. e., the line parallel to the long edges 36 and 38 of the two walls 10 and 12 in the drawings. The walls 10 and 12 are preferably of foil material having a grain, such as aluminum and the like. In the drawings, this grain is depicted as the arrow 52 and is parallel to the long edges 36 and 38 and to the line of separation of the two walls 10 and 12. The adhesive substance 50 is one which has a grain, such as vinyl, and whose grain lies parallel to the direction in which the adhesive substance is applied. In the drawings, the grain of the adhesive coating 50 lies parallel to the grain of the walls 10 and 12 and their long edges 36 and 38. It has been found that when the grain of the adhesive substance lies parallel to the grain and line of separation of the two walls 10 and 12, the bond between these two walls is weakened and separation of the two is facilitated.

The adhesive coating 50 may be wiped, as by a buffing operation, to rearrange the molecular construction of the adhesive coating and to further facilitate separation of the two walls 10 and 12. The wiping may be in a direction parallel to the line of separation between the two layers and in a direction parallel to the grain of the adhesive coating. In the package illustrated in the drawings, the wiping operation is in a direction parallel to the long edges 36 and 38 of the walls 10 and 12, respec- 10 and 12 may be formed by folding the strip along fold tlvely After the walls 10 and 12 have been treated as above, the article is placed on one of these walls (such as 10) and the other wall (such as 12) is superimposed on the first wall. The adhesive coating on wall 10 will adhere to the adhesive on wall 12 and thus present a bond between the walls 10 and 12. The adhesive coating 50 will minimize any deterioration of the walls 10 and 12.

The two walls 10 and 12 may then be secured to each other along a sealing zone as described above.

In the completed package, the wrapper and the blade are protected against deterioration by the adhesive coa t ing 50. When the blade 2 is to be used, the extension flap 16 is grasped by the user and pulled until the tabs 30 and 32 are exposed. .These tabs 30and 32 are then grasped and the walls 10 and 12 are separated until the blade 2 is exposed. Separation is facilitated by the weakened bond between the two walls 10 and 12 caused by the application of the adhesive coating 50 in a direc tion parallel to the line of separation of the walls 10 and 12 and to the grain of the walls 10 and 12 which deposits the grain of the adhesive coating 50 in a direction parallel to the grain of the wallsltl and 12. Separation is further facilitated by the wiping operation which further weakens the bond. The lines 22 converging to the apex 24"also facilitate separation because there will be less surface to separate at point 24. h

The points of increased resistance, such as stops 34, will stop the separation of the two layers 10 and 12 and prevent the user from losing control of the blade 2.

I claim:

A surgeons blade package comprising a plurality of sections each formed of sheet material having a natural grain such as aluminum foil and the like and a surgeon's blade held therebetween, said sections being bonded to each other by a vinyl coating applied in the direction of the natural grain of the aluminum foil to thereby modify the bonding action of the vinyl coating and thus facilitate separation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,387,839 Davis Aug. 16, 1921 1,398,840 Conley Nov. 29, 1921 1,489,379 Zeller Apr. 8, 1924 1,702,325 Van Sickles Feb. 19, 1929 1,824,285 Matson Sept. 22, 1931 2,087,236 Anders July 20, 1937 2,113,927 Alfred Apr. 12, 1938 2,232,783 Hausheer Feb. 25, 1941 2,262,774 Neumair Nov. 18, 1941 02,372,406 Treneer Mar. 27, 1945 2,410,438 Fields Nov. 5, 1946 2,480,501 Moore Aug. 30, 1949 2,565,336 Adler Aug. 21, 1951 2,622,786 McDowell Dec. 23, 1952 2,634,886 Land Apr. 14, 1953 2,648,463 Scherer Aug. 11, 1953 2,653,120 Adler Sept. 22, 1953 

